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Simple Negations (not, never, nobody)

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An overview of how to form basic negations in English using "not," "never," and "nobody," including their roles, placements, and example sentences.

Simple negations in English are formed using words like not, never, and nobody to express the absence of something, deny an action, or indicate that something does not happen. Understanding these basic negation words is essential for building negative sentences.
  • Not is used to negate verbs, adjectives, or other parts of a sentence.
  • Never means "at no time" and negates the action permanently or habitually.
  • Nobody (also no one) negates subjects by indicating "no person."

Not

The word not is used to make verbs, auxiliaries, or modal verbs negative. It can also negate adjectives or adverbs.
  • not follows auxiliary verbs (do, does, did, is, are, will, etc.)
  • If there is no auxiliary, use do/does/did + not before the main verb
  • not can also be used before adjectives or adverbs (e.g., not good, not quickly)

Examples:

AffirmativeNegative
I am happy.I am not happy.
She plays tennis.She does not play tennis.
They will come.They will not come.
He is tall.He is not tall.

Never

Never means "at no time" and indicates that something does not happen, has not happened, and will not happen as a matter of fact or habit.
  • never comes before the main verb (or after auxiliary/modal)
  • It expresses a stronger negative meaning than not
  • Can be used with all subjects and tenses (using auxiliary/modal as needed)

Examples:

AffirmativeNegative
I eat sweets.I never eat sweets.
She has traveled to Japan.She has never traveled to Japan.
They go out late.They never go out late.
He will lie.He will never lie.

Nobody

Nobody (synonym: no one) means "no person" and is used as the subject of a sentence to indicate that not a single person is involved.
  • nobody is always singular (use singular verb)
  • It replaces a person noun in the subject position
  • Can be used as object with prepositions (e.g., "I saw nobody")

Examples:

Singular SubjectNegative
She called someone.Nobody called.
Someone is at the door.Nobody is at the door.
I saw someone.I saw nobody.

Summary

Simple negations in English involve using not to negate verbs or adjectives, never to indicate that something does not happen at any time, and nobody to mean "no person" as a subject. These are foundational tools for expressing negativity in everyday English.
Next Up: Double Negatives (standard, nonstandard)

Last updated: Thu Jun 12, 2025

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